Let’s give the fans something to shout about

PAUL DICKOV

I KNEW when I took the job here that it was not going to be at all easy and that I faced a big challenge, says PAUL DICKOV.

Thankfully, I like challenges.

I enjoy working hard and throughout my career as a player made sure I put in as much effort as I possibly could so I could get to the highest level possible.

I plan to do the same as a manager. The big thing for me is, I am learning every day.

There are always new things coming up that you don’t realise when you are a player that managers have to deal with.

It is great, and I am thriving on it at the moment, but it is still early days.

I am enthusiastic about my football whether it is in playing or managing and I want to relay that to some of my players as well.

I have tried to pick up bits and pieces from the managers I have worked for, like Joe Royle who used to be here at Boundary Park.

But the best advice I received from managers I have spoken to since taking the job is: “Be yourself”.

I am very focused on what I want to do and what I want from my players.

A big thing for me is to treat players as individuals first and foremost.

Everybody is different and we all react in different ways to situations.

I think if you can get the best out of those individuals and integrate them into the team then you will get results.

To be fair to the players, everything we have asked them to do in pre-season they have taken on board.

It is up to me and my coaching staff now to make sure that continues.

We have stressed to the players that it can be enjoyable to work hard.

Being a footballer is the best job in the world and I think they all realise that.

We have to remember that we cannot afford to go around thinking we are a good team all of a sudden.

We have had a few good pre-season results against top clubs like Wigan, Bolton and Preston, but they don’t mean anything.

We have to show the same attitude and make sure we are at it from day one. Look at the very best teams in League One and you will see that players there put everything in, be it in training or in games.

I don’t like talking too much about what happened here before I came but there was a lot of disappointment and doom and gloom around the place.

One thing I wanted to try to do was come in and create a feel-good factor — not just in the changing room but throughout the club as a whole, with the office staff and the fans as well.

It is important that the fans feel part of things. It is their football club and I want to make sure everyone is pulling in the same direction. We are all in it together.

Our fans have been great, as well, and to take an away following that is expected to top 2,000 at Tranmere for my first game is fantastic.

I have said all along that if the supporters see a team out there who will work hard for them and show a bit of passion, then they will turn up.

I keep repeating myself, but it is not up to the fans to get the players going — it is up to the players to get the fans going.

And I will make sure they do that.